Big O

The "Big O" is a nine day series of 9 to 14 mile day hikes that circumnavigates Lake Okeechobee, the second largest lake entirely within the US. The trail around the Lake is called the Lake Okeechobee Sceneic Trail (LOST). It is located on the top of the Herbert Hoover Dike which completely surrounds the lake and protects the local area from flooding during a hurricane. The Florida Trail utilizes the LOST. Florida Trail hikers have the choice of hiking the East or West side of the Lake. I decided I would do the complete circumnavigation of the Lake instead of choosing sides.

There is no shade on the trail, so it is preferable to hike it in cooler weather. While there is a good amount of birds and wildlife, the scenery is basically the same for 110 miles. I decided to hike the lake section with the Florida Trail group that hikes it annually during Thanksgiving week. Friend Ian also wanted to get this section out of the way so he will not have to tackle it in warmer weather during his thru hike.

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Building Monkey Creek Bridge

Monkey Creek is in the Apalachicola National Forest. Florida Trail's F-Troop trail crew is rebuilding an 80' bridge that will take the trail over the creek replacing an old washed out bridge. They have called for volinteers to assist with the project, so I thought it would make a nice first time F-Troop volunteer week for me. A base camp has been set up a short distance from the work site. Some volunteers will spend the entire 10 days at the prtoject, others will spend the weekend, a couple of days, or travel in daily. Before the construction starts will be a Ropes and Rigging training starting early Saturday morning. It's a good 6 - 7 hour drive for me to get to the site, so I planned to arriving on Friday night, then camp for a week and leave the following Thursday or Friday.

The project started with a rigging training involving a presentation of what can be achieved without machinery, but utilizing human labor and rigging techniques, rigging terminology, equipment, etc. After learning some of the theories of using rigging to use limited muscle power, and maximum brain power to move objects larger than could be moved using strength alone. We had a demonstration of how many pounds of pull strength the average person has. It was about equal to body weight. To show how rigging can increase that pull strength, a full size truck was attached to a tree with a wire rope, rope pulleys, and anchors, then I pulled it several inches just by pulling the center of the rope.

The base camp was either 1/2 mile, or almost 2 miles walk through the forest from the bridge site, depending who you ask, and whether they guesstimated or actually measured with a GPS! It's a pleasant walk, and most walked it at least once. Additionally, the Forest Service had "improved" a dirt road into the site that was suitable for high clearance vehicles. There were enough trucks available to provide rides to and from the worksite daily.

Monkey Creek has an existing bridge crossing, but it was washed off its foundations during a high flow several years ago, and now sits at a precarious angle, wedged in a tree. Hikers are currently advised to wade the creek as long as the water is not high. The new bridge is 80' long, and will sit on top of the creek's banks, well clear of regular water levels, and about 1/4 mile downstream of the old bridge site. Part of the weeks work will involved dismantling the old bridge and rerouting the trail to the new crossing point.

The water level in the creek is currently very low. That's great news from the construction point of view, as we won't have to risk life and limb to struggle across the creek. Two large steps would easily get a hiker across the water, but rugged construction experts that we are, we placed a 12' 2 x 10 plank or two across the water to save us even having to get our boots wet! I have to admit, it did seem rather funny to me to be replacing this with an 80' bridge! However, construction was obviously planned for the time of year when water levels are lowest. I have not seen the creek in flood, and it does have fairly steep banks. I'm sure that at higher water levels there would be considerable risk to crossing due to the water depth.

The area of the creek is a pleasant gently flowing backwater, with still, clear, tannin colored pools lined by white sand, gnarled twisted cypress knees, and shady pine forest. Reflections of blue skies on the brown water, and the occasional mushrooms just completed the picture. It's a beatuiful spot, and would have been very serene if there were not 30 construction workers immediately overhead and around.

Serenity was not too far though. About 1/4 mile downstream of the bridge site Monkey Creek flows into the Sopchoppy River. The ten minute walk down to the confluence was a popular lunchtime activity. If anything, the Sopchoppy seemed even darker tannin stained than Monkey Creek, almost to a deep red tea. The river turns a 90 degree bend immediately before the confluence. The river level is low right now, giving access to the flat white sand edges of the river, below the steep 10' - 15' banks. This minature gorge is filled with the exposed roots and limbs of Cypress trees that are evidence of scouring when the water is higher.

About 1/4 mile upstream of the bridge site the trail crosses the creek at the site or the old bridge which was washed off it's support several years ago in a flood and has been wedged up against a tree since. A small crew spent a day dismantling the old bridge and relocating the used timbers up to the new bridge site. Some of the old material will be used temporarily during the construction process, some will be used for construction of a ramp up onto the new bridge, and the remainder will be removed at the end of the project. The Florida Trail will be re-routed to the new bridge location when it is completed.

At the construction site, on the first day, was organized chaos! The ground was strewn with piles of the bridge kit pieces that will eventually become the 80’ free spanning bridge. The pieces are made of a light-weight fiberglass composite material, precut and predrilled. Lightweight is a relative term, many of the pieces are large and/or long, and flexible. They require several bodies to move them. Our job is to take the piles of pieces, the instructions, and a couple of boxes of bolts and joints and make a bridge out of it all.

The plan was: Assemble the two 80' side trusses first, and utilize the rigging training to hoist each side truss over the river with a highline system, set them into place onto the abutments that have already been built by the trail crew, then add the extra side supports and the foot tread between. Sounds easy enough!

Except no-one realy knew what they were doing, or supposed to be doing. We swarmed the truss pieces, grabbing uprights, joints, bolts, washer and nuts and began putting everything together. Everyone was anxious to do something, and the way we were working you'd think we thought we could get it built in a day. As the afternoon wore on, those smart enough to take a break sat on the abutment on the far side of the creek, looking longingly like they were expecting a bridge to come over any moment.

As the bulk of the crew worked on the bridge pieces, work was also progressing on the other element of the construction: Creating a rigging system to move the partially completed 80' long, heavy but very flexible trusses down the bank and across the creek. An essential part of that system is the spar, a tall strong pole which will bear the weight of the bridge. For this job, two spars, one on each side of the creek, and a sky line strung between. Suitable tall straight pine trees are identified, cut down, branches removed, and then the bark is shaved to allow the tree to be checked for cracks, etc, and to make a smoother surface for the straps that will hold winches, cables, etc. The end product looks like a telphone pole. A hole is then dug at the location the spar will be raised, and ropes, cables, and winches used to lift it into place.

Meanwhile, the piles of bridge pieces dwindle as the side trusses take shape. First one side, then the other, the kit is bolted together, tightened, torqued, jacked up and cambered. Finally we had two complete trusses ready to move. The trusses are temporarily supported upright with braces and ropes. The permanent side supports will not be added until after the bridge is in place. The 80' trusses are solid and stable while they are supported upright, but flex like a wet noodle when moved unsupported. An additional issue that was not anticipated, is that the uprights of the bridge extend about 6" below the lower support beam. This means that the truss will not be able to slide along the ground, but will have to be supported so the uprights do not dig into the ground, then moved along on roller logs until the truss is far enough forward along the sky line to be lifted completely off the ground.

A final check is made of the spar poles, guy lines checked and tightened, and we're ready to lift the bridge. This is the most complex part of the construction, and the most dangerous. Once the winch is tightened and bearing the weight of part, and then all of the truss, care must be taken at each of the wire ropes. They will all be under differing stress depending on where the weight is placed at any given moment. We are all given constant safety briefings and warnings. People are stationed at each pole and guy wire, and others are positioned to brace the bridge with ropes to prevent lateral movement as the bridge moves forward. ...and we're off! At first the leading edge is lifted off the ground, and the rear is rolled forward inches or feet at a time. Once the front half of the first truss is "flying". With a brakeman in the rear to prevent the entire truss from flying down the line out of control, the rear is also lifted up on the skyline and the entire truss is airborne. A crew on the far side pulls, the brakeman releases slowly, and the truss inches it's way to the other side of the creek.

As the truss progressed down into the creek, those 6' lower extensions of the uprights became an issue again, and additional bracing, log rolling, and a little manual jacking and lifting was needed to complete the journey over the creek. But the pulling contined, and the creek was soon crossed, and both ends of the truss steered to their abutments. The first truss was positioned, bolted, and braced into position.

Now the process just has to be repeated for the second truss. Before starting the second movement the crew practiced on the winches and ropes by moving the wooden footing planks cross the creek on the skyline. Unfortunately, the great weather we have had so far for construction failed us at this stage. Just as the second truss was attached to the skyline and began it's ariel journey a storm was approaching. Severe weather was reported west of us. High winds and tornadoes were possible. Debris and small branches were already falling from the trees above us, and the Forest Service declared the worksite was to be cleared. We secured the half moved truss as tight as possible, cleared up the worksite to remove or secure and potentail flying objects, and returned to camp.

And that was where my first F-Troop project had to end. I was supposed to leave the next day anyway, but with the threat of severe weather, the sleepless night that would ensue trying to sleep in a windblown tent, and especially the idea of having to pack up a wet tent in the morning, I decided to pack up and head for home tonight instead. I would have loved to stay another day, especially if it meant seeing the bridge completed, but I have a hiking trip planned starting early Saturday morning. I doubt at this stage that I would see the bridge completed before Friday afternoon, which would be the very latest I could leave to do the 400 mile drive down to the start point, and get my laundry done too.

But that's OK. I now have an excuse to return soon to this trail section to hike it and cross the newly completed bridge myself. I won't have the experience or the pictures of the final stages of completion, but I know which bolts I put in myself, and I'll be able to come visit them and still feel the accomplishment of being a small part of the construction.

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Grand Canyon Raft Trip

This trip is a 16 day Geology focused raft trip. It is double the length in days of my previous trips, travelling 226 miles of the Canyon by man (and woman) powered oar boats rather than the motorized rafts I have previously taken. As with previous trips, there are lots of photos here of river, rocks, and sky. I'm not even going to attempt to journalize the trip, nor keep the pictures in any chronological order, but group a few of my favorites by type, and add some descriptions.

We started out the trip on a beautiful, sunny, if a little cool, early October morning. At the early pickup in Flagstaff there was a light frost on the ground, so we were all rather relieved to reach the lower elevation of Lees Ferry and warmer temperatures. There had been rain storms and flash flooding in this area over the past several days, but we started out into the rising Marble Canyon in sunshine, and the clear blue green water coming from Glen Canyon Dam. However, that was the last blue water we saw! Within the first mile, the muddy flow of the Paria River joined the Colorado.

The trip transportation was seven 18' passenger oar rafts, one dory, and one gear raft. Our crew was very experienced, and included Trip Leader Brian, who has over 300 canyon trips, Bill driving the Dory, part owner of the company, but would never own up to how many trips, Gil driving the baggage boat, two Ericka's (actually one with a C, and one with a K), Robbie, Walt, Tom, and Trey, who was the second boatman on my first motorized trip back in 2004 (so I blame him for a part of this addiction!). As well as being great boatman, they were also good cooks, and displayed other musical and artistic talents. An awesome bunch. In addition to the crew was "work along", Rich, and Ross in an inflatable kayak, who hiked out at Phantom Ranch. The trip was led by Geologist Ivo Lucchita, and an additional 24 passsengers. It was a large group, but never really felt that way as we were spread out over the 9 boats. This was a great group of folks to travel with.

Mud played a big part in the trip. It's hard to imagine just how much, unless you were there, slipping and sliding, and gingerly trying to hop from rock to rock without getting sucked into it. In general there were several inches of slippery slimy silt covering the more solid base sand at the water's edge. My shoes were sucked off my feet several times while embarking/disembarking, collecting water, etc. Fortunately I was able to recover them, and a half pound of sticky red brown goo, each time. I actually managed to never slip and fall all the way down into the mud, confining myself just to several slides, but many did end up down in it.

The mud and sand gets in everything, and it was futile trying to wash it out during the trip. The river water we used for washing was the same muddy brown concoction that was making everything muddy in the first place. By the time we returned to Flagstaff my clothes bag was probably a pound or so heavier with it. The first hot water laundry run through the washing mahine just spread the mud around in orange splotches, several runs through later, there is still sand in the washing machine and dryer afterwards. I'm sure eventually it will wash out.

We saw only a couple of Big Horn sheep, but a variety of other wildlife. There were several Blue Herons (or one that followed us all the way), some Mule Deer, a RoadRunner, and a wild Turkey. I missed the picture of the road runner and turkey. We even had a small bird hitch a ride on an oar as we approached Duebendorf rapid. Boatman Tom was reluctant to dip the oar and dislodge the bird, but fortunately for us, it decided to fly off before the critical moment when steering was required.

As mentioned, after the first mile the river was brown. Actual hues ranged from slightly muddy, through chocolate milk, to deep red. Beautiful, but messy.


And then there were the rapids. They look so much more violent in brown! Every trip deserves a good Lava story, so here is ours. After 170 miles of river, we all think we are getting good at this rafting stuff: No-one had involuntarily entered the water yet, and apart from Trey's close up inspection of the Muav limestone outcrop early in the trip, Erica's little detour round the left side of Bedrock, and a couple of other little bumps and scrapes, we have had no mishaps. But you can't underestimate Lava Falls. So the boats all stop and scout the best route. The water is apparently at about 12k cfs (cubic feet per second) and as at Crystal Rapid, "it's a little crunchy", there is no really great obvious run. Eventually though, the boatman are reasonably happy with the run they have picked - all are going right. Us passengers are once again given the "sit down, shut up, hang on, prepare to bail" speach, and we're ready to run. Our boat has Walt driving, and three passengers up front to put the weight up there to help us punch through the waves: Joe, Genie, and Shan. I'm safely ensconced in the back, with instructions not to fly out, but if I do, try to miss hitting the oarsman and other passengers on the way out!

So the run is lined up, and we're sucked rapidly into the melee. Suddenly there is this towering wall of V wave hanging above us, and coming our way. Everyone ducks (it's reflexive) and we when come back out I look up. I'm still hanging on, and still in the boat. Unfortunately Walt (remember him, he's the one supposed to be getting us out of this alive) is gone! In my own words "Oh shit! We lost our rower!" Now despite the fact that no-one up front is really sure what a "rower" is, (maybe I could have said "boatman", "captain", "oarsman", or something more descriptive), they got the message anyway. They all turn around and also discover that we're missing something quite crucial. So the next 10 seconds are a chaotic panic: Joe went to jump in the driver's seat, and at the same time saw Walt hanging on the side of the boat and attempted to pull him in. The waves are still crashing over us, and now Joe is down on the low side of the raft pulling weight, when what we should be doing is high siding into the wave to prevent us from flipping. The upper oar is waving around dangerously. I'm pretty darn useless in any way, cause I'm hanging on in the back, out of reach, but also out of the way of the flapping oar. Shan is yelling "HI-side" and "grab the oar", and Genie is apparently feeling as shell shocked and useless as I am. I think I managed the high side when it was yelled. We didn't flip anyway.

Joe and Shan finally haul Walt back in the boat, but our left oar is jammed in the oarlock and useless. During the attempt to free it, Joe takes a serious oar crack to the jaw, spurring the next great quote of the day "Dude, I think you just broke my jaw.". Fortunately, we drifted helplessly but harmlessly out of the way of the holes, the waves, and the rocks. The oar was recovered, and with a few strokes we washed out at the bottom of Lava. Joe's jaw was not broken, but nicely bruised, and Walt lost only a flip flop and suffered only a jarred back. After a brief "Yee-Ha" yell at the bottom, with adrenaline running strong, and needless to say, a fair amount of water in the boat, we were issued the command to "BAIL". By the time we could come up for air almost all the boats were through. They all seemed to get pretty good rides, and apparently the passengers in the front Dory seats hardly even got splashed. Go figure!

At Nankoweap, one of my favorite places in the Canyon because it is so photogenic, I skipped out on the afternoon group hike up to Granaries for some sun worshipping on a small beach, but hiked up alone later in the evening hoping for some photos without people in. Unfortunately for me, I was caught and passed by another lone hiker from a private group camped in Lower Nankoweap. His name was Gabriel, and by the time I finally made it to the Granaries he was sitting drawing. I didn't disturb him. I guess I'll have to go back again to get my peopleless photos!

Did I mention the rain? We had a couple of cold and wet rainy days in the first week or the trip. Now it may seem strange to even have to mention cold and wet on a rafting trip. After all, the river is always cold, and you know and expect you'll get wet in the rapids! So why even mention it? Because it rained the day we traversed the Upper Granite Gorge, from Hance Rapid to Phantom Ranch. The Canyon in this area is hard steep rock, and when it rains, red water pours down the black gorge rocks in temporary waterfalls. It is incredibly beautiful watching and hearing this canyon erosion at work. Despite being cold and wet, we were loving it!

Even on the days it didn't rain on us, the sky was sometimes quite threatening or pretty with storm clouds at night. All the creeks running from the north side of the gorge were flowing with deep red water, and as we passed by the bottom of Clear Creek a wall of rocks, tree limbs, mud and debris flashed out of the side canyon.
As the rain eased off after lunch we arrived at Phantom Ranch. Several of us made a quick trip up to the Canteen. Bright Angel Creek was flooding vigorously and dramatically red (unfortunately I had left the camera on the raft). The foot trail to the Ranch was a muddy slosh of rainwater and mule dung. After completing the postcard and phone call chores, I hurried back down the trail, scaring up a wild Turkey as I did so. I think it interpreted my quickened pace as a chase. After running down the trail in front of me for a while, it turned to make a stand, then ran at me with feathers flapping. I'm very glad to have been the last to leave, there was no-one else around to have caught in glorious color the battle of a rock hopping, dung avoiding, bedraggled woman defending herself against a flapping turkey while determinedly protecting the slightly drier outer clothes in one hand and a lidless cup of hot Earl Grey in other!

We spent two nights at Bass Camp, and hiked to the old Bass site on the day in between. The camp was a major Grand Canyon tourist site in the past. Tourists would hike down from the South rim, be carried over the river in a cable car, then hike into and stay at Bass Camp. Old metal and glass artifacts from the tourist heyday are displayed under an overhang at the site.

Aside from the impromptu red on black waterfall display in the Upper Gorge, we did not get a chance to see as many waterfalls on this trip as I had in the past. Slot Canyons are not a great place to play when it is stormy! But after the runoff had calmed down, and the creeks returned to clear babbling streams we managed to squeeze in a few permanent falls.

Around the middle of the trip, on a sunny day, but in a shaded and cold part of the canyon we stopped at the Ledges for lunch. The Ledges was in the sun, and there was a small but clear spring flowing over the edge of the canyon above us, dropping in steps down to the edge of the river below. The final drop was directly onto the sand (and mud) about 3 feet from the river's edge. By standing on a rock it wasn't even too muddy on the feet. If this had been an overnight spot it would have made a perfect shower of clean and cool (but not as cold as the river) water, and there would have been a line of all the females on the trip waiting to wash their hair. Probably most of the men too. I don't think anyone else saw it, and I didn't have any soap handy, but I managed a quick refreshing soapless shower in it anyway.

All In all, an awesome trip. When can I go back?

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Withlacoochee State Trail

Spent the weekend on the Withlacoochee State Trail, a paved bicycle trail that the Florida Trail shares for about 30 miles.

It's an old rail trail, so fairly straight, and gently graded up and down through this hilly area. I forgot the camera, so no pictures. Did see two turkeys, one peahen, one deer, and one silver fox, plus lots of squirrels. The trail was very busy with bicycles on Saturday morning and I spent a nice rest break at a pagoda in Floral city talking to some ex-Brits from a local cycling club. As the day started warming up though, the cyclists diminished and only us crazies were out!

Spent the night at Fort Cooper SP primitive camping area, which I shared with a Frat party. They were a little noisy late into the night, but other than that it was a good night.

The trail parrallels US41 for a lot of it's length, and there are plenty of businesses to stop by in for sodas, icecream, snacks etc., so I'm sure I didn't lose much weight this weekend!

I was hoping to make it all the way to the end of the bike trail at Gulf Jct on Sunday, but as the day started to heat up I changed plans and wimped out at Holder. I've been spending too much hiking time this summer hanging out where there is cool water, kayaking etc., and don't have the stamina for this hot blacktop stuff. Roll on cool weather!

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Orlando Wetlands Park

Nice trail round the water impoundment ponds. Saw lots of birds and a couple of gators, then ran for our lives back to the car when we saw a very large thunderstorm coming at us.

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Northern Arizona trip

North Rim
My intended destination was Point Imperial, but that plan was cut short when the Park Service closed the road due to very high winds and falling trees. I spent some time at the North Rim viewpoints (carefully hanging on) instead. As my trip to Point Imperial had been cut short I had some time to wander around at Lee's Ferry where I was camped.

The timing of this trip is to attend a Grand Canyon Field Institute Photography workshop. The first hike was into Cathedral Wash for the afternoon where we all took some basic pictures to be critiqued later that evening. Stupid me fell on a rock during this hike, severely curtailing my activities for the remainder of the week. By the time we returned to the Marble Canyon Lodge my foot was bruised, swollen, and extremely painful. I stopped at the gas station to buy ice, then attempted to sleep that night in the car with my foot in a cooler. Yeah, that was comfortable!

The next day's hike was into Buckskin Gulch. I wasn't even sure if I could make it, but I had wanted to do this hike for so long that I just had to try. I used my tripod more as a crutch than a base for the camera, and I didn't get near as far down the canyon as everyone else, but I did get some decent pictures, and learned a lot about lighting techniques, which would be very useful later in the trip.

The next day I was a lot more mobile again, enough so that I led the charge up our next destination, Yellow Mountain. This location was a lot of fun for me: we were out int he sunshine, in terrain that was totally new to me and unique. I loved it. I have to add this to my bucket list of places to hike more and explore. It's an area of eroded cross bedded sandstones with limestone fins that were originally casued by higher rock layers leached down through the sandstone and depositing limestone in the cracks between sandstone blocks. As the sandstone has eroded the harder limestone erodes more slowly and leaves angular fins protruding. The fins are very fragile, requiring careful footing to prevent breakage, but they make for some interesting photographs. The mainly areas light colored rock in this area is very stained by mineral desposits leaching through the existing rock, or from layers that have since eroded away, leaving interesting patches of reds and yellows.

The news about the last day of the photo class was very disappointing to me. I was hoping to visit one of the Coyote Buttes sites, or another dramatic area such as yesterday. When I found out the plan was to visit a stream loction to photograph trees I decided to abandon the remainder of the seminar and go my own way for the next couple of days. It was too late to get my own permit for Coyote Buttes so I decided to visit a couple of nearby areas that I'd wanted to visit.

Lower Antelope Canyon is a very narrow sinuous slot canyon of sandstone. The Navajo guide led us into the slot by sitting on the edge of a crack int he sandstone and stepping down into the narrow entrance. The canyon is very quite narrow in places and has some fairly steep natural drops which have metal steps to assist getting down into the depths of the canyon. The entire 1/2 mile length is a wonderful twisted experience of wind and water eroded sandstone. Most of the sandstone is smoothly weathered, but the are occasional stone embedded layers that add texture in the wall patterns. The footing is sometime a level sandy layer, but occasionally the slot walls slope all the way down to the floor, requiring careful footing. The Lower Canyon does not seem as popular as the Upper Canyon, but is uniquely different, quieter, and definitely worth a visit at any time of day. In 1997, eleven tourists were drowned during a flash flood in Lower Antelope Canyon. Obviously, the canyon is now closed during any chance of rain or flood.

Upper Antelope Canyon is wider at the bottom than the lower canyon, but the very narrow top allows light to shine directly into the canyon only in a few small places, and only when the sun is directly overhead during the middle of the day. This causes shafts or beams of intense light in the very dark canyon. Breezes from above cause sand and dust to filter down through the cracks enhancing the shafts. The canyon is beautiful, has a much more level and wider floor than Lower Antelope canyon, and is very different. It is extremely busy in the canyon during the 2 hours of most intense lighting, and very difficult to get unobstructed photographs, but a beautiful place, and definitely worth a visit.

Next, I knew there was a place somewhere on the Colorado Rim somewhere in the 15 miles between Glen Canyon Dam and Lees Ferry where there was an overlook of Horseshoe Bend, so I set out to find it, starting at Glen Canyon Dam and working my way downriver. I eventually found a trailhead with a couple of miles hike to the overlook, again well worth it.

Next day I visited Walnut Canyon to see the Sinagua Cliff Dwellings. I did not find these neraly as dramatic as the ruins at Sierra Ancha I had seen last year. I also visited the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, but decided to forego the South Rim village as I'd already been there, and stopped at Desert View WatchTower instead. I enjoyed the river views available here that you don't get at the Village, and particuarly being able to look down on the wide beach at Furnace Flats where I'd slept on a rafting trip.

Last stop was at Coal Mine Canyon. It is like a miniature Bryce Canyon. I would have loved to hike down into the canyon, but the canyon is remote, and there were no other vehicles around at the parking area so it seemed prudent not to venture down alone. I satisfied myself with pictures from the rim.

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Rodman Dam

It was a hot, humid, sticky night, and the attempts to get into the breeze didn't work! We were up fairly early in the morning, it had been a fairly restless night anyway, due to the heat, and once again we knew that the southbound hiking group would be out much earlier than we could possibly manage. They stay at civilized campgrounds, and don't have to pack up camp and load up backpacks before starting out in the morning. And they get up much earlier! We will get a chance to experience their style of hiking tomorrow as we will be shuttling up to their campground today after our hike, camping with them ,and shuttling back to todays end point to hike with them tomorrow. Today is Jack Hailman's 70th birthday and he is having a birthday dinner celebration which we don't want to miss out on. Deb Blick of the Florida Trail Association is GPS'ing a section of the trail from Lake Delancy campground this morning, and has agreed to wait for us at the trail crossing and will shuttle us to Rodman campground where the main group of day hikers will be camped.
Once again, I met up with the lead hikers very shortly after getting started out. I didn't stop for long, as I knew I'd be seeing them and have an opportunity to socialize tonight. At Grassy Pond, I took the blue blaze into the now abandoned campsite for a look around. When I returned to the trail I had no idea if Ian was now still behind me, or up in front. The morning air was already very humid, and even the early sunshine beginning to feel hot. The trail here is a “tunnel” between scrub and brush walls about 12’ high on both sides through pine forest. Visibility is mostly limited to straight ahead, and restricted by twists and turns of the trail. I was looking for a fallen tree in the shade for a suitable place for a quick water break, when I disturbed an animal that was very close, or possibly even on the trail. There was a bend in the trail at that point, and it was very shaded, but the noise receding off to the east was of a large animal, very unlike the bounding sound of a startled deer, more of a crashing, thunderous stomp. My obvious thought was “Bear”. I stopped, peered into the dense understorey, hoping to at least glimpse the famous “bear butt disappearing into the woods”, but saw nothing, no sign at all. Whatever it was had clearly retreated quite far off, but I decided to continue on a little way before I took my break. Just in case. After a fairly brisk quarter mile I decided I had put enough distance between me and my “probably a bear” to take a break, and came around a large bush to a widening of the trail where an old and apparently non-maintained trail crossed. There was no log to sit on, but the less dense cross trail allowed a little more of the cooling breeze to flow down to ground level. Removing my pack, I perched on the pack on the west side of the crossing. Ten minutes or so later, I reached around me to re-secure to the water bottle. While looking down, I heard movement coming up the trail behind the large bush. I couldn’t see round the bush, but made the natural assumption it was Ian. Surprise! Bear! Head on, on all fours, and about 3 feet tall at the withers, with a blue collar and radio transmitter. He saw me at the same time I saw him. It was a split second encounter. We were both as surprised as the other. He crashed off again to the east, I picked up and hastily shouldered the pack.

I remember thinking several things at once: “Bear!”, “That’s not Ian - Run”, “Where’s my camera?”, “Forget the water bottle – Run”, “Wish I’d had my camera ready for that”, “Run”, “Wow, I should warn Ian there’s bear”. I hastily scrawled the word “BEAR” in 12 inch high letters in the sand with my hiking pole, and set off up the trail at a fast pace. In my hurry, with my pack not properly balanced, and trying to look behind while making forward progress, I stumbled into the trailside brush, narrowly missed poking my eye out on protruding branch, and wrenching my right hamstring. After limping along a little further I came to a fallen tree at just the right height, angle, and position to take the weight of the pack while I readjusted it, and check out the minor damage, while still having a reasonable view back down the trail. I had just readjusted the backpack and was bending down to massage the back of my right thigh when I caught a glimpse of something black and moving on the shaded trail behind me. I ignored the 40lbs on my back, my straining hamstring, and my heart pounding. I ran. I think I ran for about half a mile before I reach the junction a road and ATV dirt trail, and the terrain changed from dense understoried pine to sparse/clear cut open pine. I collapsed on the grass by the road. With a clear view of open space around me, I grabbed my full 2 liter water bladder from the pack, almost drained it, then lay sprawled and cooling, heart gradually slowing, in the shade. Distance, and drop in adrenaline increases rationality. By now I was pretty sure the bear was probably just ambling along the trail minding his own business, as scared of me as I was of him. I may or may not have seen him reappear at the log, it could have just been a moving dense shadow. All I heard now were ATV motors in the distance, coming closer, headed in my direction. Ian caught up to me at my next break, around 10am as we had discussed. He had not seen any sign of the bear, but had seen my sign in the sand. As a classic example of how men think differently to women. I wrote “BEAR”, he read “BEER” and spent a few moments looking round the trail crossing for a cooler of cold ones! I’m just glad there wasn’t a hungry bear waiting in the brush for an unsuspecting, beer hunting hiker! As we approached Lake Delancy the trail enters an area of old clay pits, making it very reminiscent of the "trenches" in the beech woods near where I grew up. It was a little hilly, very pretty and would have been a pleasant place to hang out for while. Unfortunately, my wrenched hamstring was starting to bother me, as I changed my foot angle to bear my weight going downhill on the slippery oak leaf covered slope, I pulled the muscle again. At the same time, the revenge of last night's reheated prefrozen sandwich also made it's presence known. I was not a happer backpacker for a few minutes. Ian was ahead of me at this point, and must have been concerned that I hadn't caught up to him, as he kept calling down the trail to see if I was OK, but I finally caught up when he promised it was only another 1/4 mile. He lied! We saw an old blue blaze, but only a few steps down the unused trail made us think the trail marking was wrong. We turned back to the main trail and continued north. This area has ATV trails running everywhere. Thankfully, some of these have been blocked and are starting to recover from the "sandy pit" stage and start to look more like hiking trails. A little way down the trail was one of these recovering trails, and I could see the campground road at the end of it. Thinking that if the blue trail we saw was actually correct, we should go down to the road to look for Deb's truck, I set off down it. No sign of Deb or the truck, but there was a bend in the road, so I walked back east on the road for a while, but still no sign. We set off west again, Ian on the trail, and me paralleling him, hobbling along the dirt road. After a while Ian joined me down on the road. We walked west on the road a while, still no sign, so we turned round and walked east again, back the way I had come,and past where I had walked down to the road again. At the point where the road totally disintegrated into a sand pit I asked a passing ATv'er where the campground entrance was, and of course, it was back to the west, and he said it was "a long way". I'm sure I could have got a ride if I'd wanted too, but we trudged back west and picked up the trail again.

Finally, actually not too far down, but far enough for my leg, we came out to another dirt road, and found Deb and truck, and cold fresh water (thanks Deb), and cold diet Pepsi (thanks Deb), and cool shade to sit in.Deb drove us to Rodman Campground and we claimed our campsite and collapsed in the shade for afternoon siesta. Later, we set up our tents and had a shower to clean up. The birthday dinner was very enjoyable. I finally got to chat with some of the day hikers I had been crossing paths with and playing tag with over the past couple of sections The food was good, and the company pleasant. We discussed my full frontal bear sighting, and that's when I founf out that others had seen or heard him earlier as they had passed through too. I wish I'd known that, I might not have run so fast if I'd known he was just hanging out and wasn't some starved rogue bear looking for a tasty hiker morsel!


After dinner, back to the campsite, the bugs weren't too bad, and it did not seem as sticky as the previous night. We headed into the tents for an early night. I was right, the day hikers DO get up early. They are starting out for the trail at 5:30am! That means a 4:30am start for those of us that want to get tents repacked before hiking.Well we did it, we woke up at 4:30, packed everything we didn't need in my car, and snacks, water cameras, etc, in the now very light backpacks, jumped in the car and followed Jack back to the Lake Delancy trail crossing.

We started out hiking at 6am, and boy do those folkls hike fast, and without stopping. Personally I'm a stop for a water break every hour, and stop if you see something nice, unusual, etc., hiker. I knew we needed to make fairly quick time this morning, as I needed Jack and Liz's assistance to get me back to my car at the end of the hike, but I was determined to enjoy the hike too. At my first stop the majority of the pack of hikers passed me. I leapfrogged a couple of them again when I started back up again, but by my second stop I had caught up to Ian, and we both had been passed by everyone else. We have our own slow and steady, "enjoy the scenery" pace.

I set off again leaving Ian to follow. He finally caught up to me just before we reached the lake at Rodman Dam, and together we caught up to the last day hiker who was just leaving the lake after a break as we arrived. And what a place for a break. The shallow clear lake is edged by a sandy beach covered in huge drfitwood logs. I couldn't resist going in for a swim, then relaxing a while on a log. Once we get up on the dam there will be no shade. We rested and cooled off for a while before tackling the dam road, across the dam, and then the last little shady forest stretch into the campground.

After cooling off, realxing a while and showering, we were about to set off in Jack and Liz's van when we realized it had a flat tire. Not a big deal with five of us acting co-operatively. After the slight delay, a bit of dust and a little bit of effort we were on our way back to civilization.

I've said it several times on the last couple of hot weekend sections. It's too hot for backpacking! Seeing how the remainder of the group base camped and day hiked made a lot of sense to me after spending the past several weekend sections dragging my fully loaded pack and water around in the heat. Day hiking is definitely the way to go for the remainder of the summer!

Having got to know Ian better, he seems like a really nice guy. I'm glad I took the chance to backpack with him, on Charles and Mary's recommendation. He is also planning to hike the entire FL Trail as time allows. He is retired from the military and does not work, so has much more time available to hike than I do, but hopefully I will be able to catch up to him for some weekend hikes occasionally.

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